


Osteodynia

by N_Writer, WarmBear



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - ShatterSwap, Alternate Universe - Swapfell, Blood, F/M, Female Chara (Undertale), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Sans - Freeform, Swapfell, Swapfell Sans, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-13 11:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11184054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N_Writer/pseuds/N_Writer, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarmBear/pseuds/WarmBear
Summary: "There are circumstances when simply trying to do better— to be better isn't enough. Sometimes, you need a little... guiding push from the outer source.""And what made you think that you're the one that can provide said push?""Well, someone has to."In the sea of rotten hearts, how can one survive without filthying themselves in the process? As dust scatters across the snow, merging with it in a sickingly shiny, painful whiteness, a single heartbeat stays strong, sounding clear as a day in the dead silence. And yet, one soul can only take so much.





	1. Ruins

Chara stares at the refrigerator, focused on her thoughts. Part of her wants to believe her father left a gift inside, but the other part is sure that he didn’t. That refrigerator right there is a “Schrödinger’s cat” situation until she opens to actually check if there is a chocolate bar inside for real or not. In a glimpse of courage, she opens it, and her eye twitches when she notices that, aside from the usual snail stuff, it’s empty. Was it  _ that _ difficult to get the only thing she craves for? It’s her last day here, after almost 10 years of snails and basic candy, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for that as a parting gift. She closes the door with a heavy sigh. Okay, actually it would be, yes. Asgore isn’t that much of sweets fan, and she knows some things are just difficult to get. She knows sweets are produced by spiders, and that they’re difficult to negotiate with. Asgore doesn’t have the time or money to do that, nor does she. “Goodbye, refrigerator full of snails. I won’t miss you.” are her last words to that traitor appliance that never once had her favorite thing in the world inside. It’s not really its fault, but if she has to blame someone… then yes, it is.

 

Chara walks one last time around the house, her bag close to the stairs to the basement, just waiting for her to finish saying her goodbyes. One way or another, she’s been around for years and this house became her own, and Asgore is her family now. 

 

_ ‘I may have failed the other kids, but I won’t fail you.’ _ the memory of Asgore’s sorrowful but strong voice echoes in Chara’s mind.  _ ‘The only way for you to get through that door is beating me in a fight first.’ _

  
The child here from that time accepted the challenge and failed miserably, having her ass kicked in a very epic way by the goat man. Instead of crying or regretting things, though, her determination took her to another path:

 

_ ‘...Teach me.’ _

 

_ ‘Oh?’ _

 

_ ‘Teach me! Teach me how to fight so I can beat you!’  _ her determined, twelve years-old self shouted at him, not expecting for sure to have such a positive answer. 

 

Expecting it or not, that was exactly what happened; Asgore trained her to be able to fight with all her might, the condition of winning against him to be able to leave still standing, even if she technically would have his own skills against the master. She never gave up, having her strength tested day by day, being forced to wake up early to keep trying, having to eat snails...UGH, THE SNAILS! All she wanted was a piece of chocolate!  _ ‘That’s fine.’  _ She repeated to herself. _ ‘If anything, that’s a motivator! I’ll leave and eat as much chocolate as I want!’  _

Nowadays, however, the motivations went a bit deeper. ‘ _ We once had a human who believed in saving us all, freeing us from here. _ ’ her father told her dozens of times about the human who wanted to save them and the nice monsters of the underground, all waiting to see the light of the sun again. It would be a lie to say she hadn't thought about that or compared herself to Frisk more than once.

 

Frisk, the human who feel who knows how many years before her, a nice kid that wanted to save everyone. ' _ What happened to her, father? _ ’ Chara would ask every time he would talk about the kid who had a blue and purple sweater. Asgore, however, never answered her questions regarding that, so she had to form her own theory. Maybe Frisk is still out there, living happily? Her father never leaves the Ruins, so maybe he just hasn't seen her. 

 

 _'That’s too much of a dream, isn't it?’_ of course it is. Frisk is surely dead. She died for the monsters, that much Chara’s mind processed without problems, but did that accomplish anything? She doesn't know, and so far she has no way to figure out either. She gives one last glance at the mirror in the hall, looking at her face, her features now so different from the childish ones from when she got there . The hall was dark when she looked around, trying to process everything around her. _'Ah, it's me.’_ she thought to herself at that time. “It’s still me.” Chara scoffs, offering a soft smile to the Chara inside the mirror, before taking her bag and starting step into the basement.

 

One step

 

Two steps

 

Three steps

 

A dozen of steps

 

_ ‘How many more?’ _

 

She’d tried to count the steps necessary to get to the door more than once, but she always lost the count, getting distracted by something else. 

 

_ 'I have all the time in the world to count it later.’  _

 

Not anymore. Today is the last day, the day she’s finally crossing that door. The day she’ll win. Chara's gaze meets Asgore’s when she gets close enough to the big door. “Are you ready, my child?” Asgore’s expression may look soft, but she knows that, inside, he’s as harsh as ever.

“I'm always ready, father.” As much as Asgore may seem dangerous, Chara’s expression doesn't lose to his. Her grin of defiance mixed with her internal confidence gives her an appearance of the ideal challenger. Anyone seeing the way Asgore attacks Chara would swear he's trying to kill her, but Chara knows best. Her father would never go all out on her if he wasn't sure she can handle it, and indeed, she can. The fast movements, the evading skills, the punches she throws against him… everything was calculated, every single glance and grin, measured beforehand. A curtain of fire balls keep going after Chara. She gets burnt a bit, over her arms and legs, but that’s nothing.  _ ‘It’s nothing. _ ’ her mind repeats. She learned long time ago that it’s all about controlling the sense of pain inside her mind…

 

...of course that doesn’t apply to her hair, so she has to dodge anyway. “Father, my bangs!” Chara grumble, frowning while ducking to escape a particular fire punch.

 

“The enemy doesn’t care about your hair style, Chara.” Asgore answers, simple, but she can see, ooohhh yes she can! She can see that smile in the corner of his mouth. She knows he’s remembering the times in the past he ended up burning parts of her hair. 

Nowadays, she avoids keeping long hair. The fight keeps going for thirty minutes, then an hour, then four hours. How? When was it that she got so much stamina? Why isn’t Asgore getting tired either? It’s not that she can’t end the battle, and it’s not like he can’t either. Both are actually avoiding it, avoiding giving their best, not because it would hurt each other, but because, once the fight ends, this will be over. All those years, all this ‘family’ stuff, it’ll be over, and one may never see each other again. 

 

Chara loves Asgore. He’s her father now.

 

And of course Asgore loves Chara, his little girl.

 

But as much as neither wants to say goodbye, they can’t keep going forever. Eventually, one will get tired, it’s just a matter or when. And the exact moment only comes after six hours of fighting. Six hours of punches, curtains of fire, kicks and evasions. Chara sits on the floor, exhausted, and so does Asgore. “So we both lose and both win. It's a tie."  Asgore announces. If that was the decisive battle, Chara would have to go back up, take a bath and come to try again the next day, but that's not the situation. That was a mere goodbye battle. It's been one week since Chara won against Asgore for good, and today was the day she finished all the preparations. The bag she's carrying isn't even as huge and full as Asgore wanted, in first place.   


_ ‘So overly concerned, that father of mine…’ _ She thought when looking at the bag for the first time that morning, rolling her eyes. "I'll be fiiiine! I don't need all those things. Is that a frying pan?" the handle of the old frying pan was sticking outside the bag like a misplaced pipe, making her arch a brow.

 

"In case you need to fry something." Asgore answered as if talking about the weather. So calm, so certain of his words... If Chara didn't know him, she would be all up to bring all those, convinced that it's all indispensable stuff. However, since she knows her father pretty well, she just got on her knees and started taking things out, while Asgore complained, half worried and half offended that she was ignoring his advice. But, well, she's a grown up woman now, his little girl, once so lost on how to even find the way to the kitchen, and now ready to face the entire underground. “At least keep the food! You have a long way ahead of you, child!” came her father’s cry of exasperation. She did understand where he was coming from, and yet…

  
“I am not taking four containers of snails with me.” she was quick to answer, her eyes squinting a bit in annoyance. Judging by the way his brows furrowed, he was about to start bickering with her again, she was sure of it. “It’s just too heavy. I won’t be able to run properly with such a weight on my shoulders, you should know that at least.” Right now, sitting in front of this door, both tired, the former king refrains from stretching his hand to her.

 

‘ _ Are you tired, small one? Do you want to take another nap before going? Maybe eating something?’ _ his mind keeps formulating the phrases, but he knows better. He can’t do it. He promised she would be free to go if she could prove she’s strong enough to face the outside, and that’s what she did, and even so he still kept there for one more week. If this keep going, none of them will let go of each other. It’s difficult, but he gets up and walks to where Chara came from, stopping, without turning around.

 

“Be safe, my child.” the strong, unbreakable voice echoes around the basement.

 

“I will. Thanks for everything, father.” the female voice echoes right after, followed by the sound of a heavy door opening.


	2. Snowflakes

The first thing Chara sees after passing through the door is the color white. It’s all white, and it takes a few seconds for her vision to register the trees around and the path on the ground.

 

“Father’s description was pretty accurate…” she admits, looking around. Asgore told her at least a dozen of times about that place covered in snow, with as many details as he could, but she always thought he was overreacting. How is it possible to have so much snow in the underground? Where's all this snow coming from? What's happening? It's weird, considering the ruins are cozy and there's no trace of coldness.

 

Chara starts walking down the path, passing close to a branch in the middle of it but not paying it much attention. Is it normal for this place to be so silent? Probably, given that she's in the middle of the woods, and it's cold. Who would be wandering around this place?

That's right, that's normal and there's nothing suspicious at all, especially if you ignore the camera hidden behind a bush next to the door.

 

‘Everything’s the usual, as much as possible, at least.’ she pretends to know what the usual is, and keeps going.

 

It’s not that Chara is weak - that's something she certainly isn't -, but she can't avoid that fear of the unknown. It's a normal fear that everyone has, and it's normal to try to repeat to yourself that there's nothing wrong. Denial is a great mental answer, if you can avoid the problem just by ignoring it, so that's the scheme here. However, Chara's problem is a bit different, and apparently keeps following her. She can hear someone stepping on the branch she just passed by, and her senses show that there's indeed a presence behind her. Why aren't they attacking? Whoever this is, they're probably evaluating her before doing anything. It’s a wise move, but unfair for Chara, if she can't do the same. Why is she the only one being evaluated, since the other has as much potential of being evil as she does?

 

No, not happening.

 

“Hey! Show yourself!” Chara shouts suddenly, turning back when she arrives around the area of a bridge. The tall skeleton behind her goes back one step, looking confused.

So that's what's been following her? A skeleton monster? He doesn't seem as menacing as she expected from one of those, but all her skeleton references are from horror movies anyway.

 

The person in question just stands in front of her calmly, quietly.

 

Yet, Chara noticed some small details right away: body stiff, legs tense, jaws squeezed together tightly, hands shaking - looks like they want to clench them into fists pretty badly. That is a posture of someone that is ready to flee if given the reason to do so. The monster is practically radiating cautiousness.

 

Neither of them say a word. The silence becomes almost deafening. They appear to be studying her very closely. Well, as closely as one can study another when there’s quite a bit of a distance between them. It’s only fair if Chara does the same for them then, isn’t it?

 

The skeleton is tall - ridiculously so even -, yet not nearly as tall as her father. Still, they probably have more than one head over Chara in height, which is rather concerning given the situation. No, she knew well that size difference definitely wasn’t the key to winning. Her sparring with Asgore taught her as much. It’d just be foolish of her not to consider all the little things that could turn the fight into someone’s favor. Then again, maybe the monster wasn’t even here to battle her. Who knows.

 

She needed to test the waters.  
  
“So? What’s your excuse?” she pressed. Might as well get this over with. “Hasn’t anyone told you that it’s rather rude to stalk strangers?”

 

“Ah, I wasn't trying to stalk you, sorry if it looked like that. It just happened that we were going in the same direction.” Liar. There's no way he was coming from the same place as her; the ruins. Not only is he nervous, he’s also bad at lying. One might be a consequence of the other, though.

 

“I'm Chara.” She starts, giving a step in his direction with her hand stretched. One step forward from her equals to two backward from him.

 

 _'He's more afraid of me than I am of him, apparently.’_ she thinks. Knowing that makes things a bit easier. She keeps her hand outstretched, waiting for him to do something, but Papyrus keeps looking at it without reacting. His face shows that he's thinking, probably analyzing her actions and processing what to do. It's the wise thing to do when you're not sure if the other is a friend or a foe, so Chara doesn't move, but doesn't press him for an action either.

 

“I’m Papyrus.” He finally takes her hand, trying to show confidence, but Chara can clearly feel him shaking. Also, the way his hand slides when he holds her gloved one show that he’s sweating. She can understand the panic of talking to someone new, but at the same time she wants to shout ‘CHILL, MAN’, even though that would make him cry, judging by the situation.

 

After what Chara would call the lightest handshake in the history of handshakes, both take their hands back and keep looking at each other. It’s… weird and awkward. She has nothing to say, and he doesn’t seem to either, so the only thing left is to keep walking.

 

“So, I’ll keep going now.” Chara announces, turning to keep on the path, but she’s interrupted by Papyrus.

 

“Ah, wait! Since we’re going in the same direction, can I go with you instead of walking behind?” he asks her without moving from his spot.

 

“Sure, no problem. Let’s go together.” Chara turns her head back at him, giving a slight nod.

 

“Ok, good. Thanks.”

 

“No problem.” she turns back to the path, while Papyrus keeps talking.

 

“I wouldn’t like to go alone.”

 

“I understand.”  
  
“Especially if it makes me look like a stalker, haha!”

 

Papyrus voice doesn’t seem to be moving, so she turns back to look and...he’s still at the same place. That makes her stop and turn at him again, confused.

 

“...Yeah. So, let’s go?”

 

“Where to?”

 

“‘Where to’? Snowdin, of course.”

 

Chara’s answer seems to make him gulp, though how a skeleton can gulp is beyond her knowledge. Magic, she supposes. Still, that’s a bad sign. Is he getting afraid of her? Like, more than he already was?

 

“...So, if you’re not coming, I guess I will---” Chara starts, but Papyrus cuts her off;

 

“How do you know Snowdin?” He asks, his voice a bit too rushed. A second after, he seems to notice what he did and tries to change the subject. “So, yeah, ahn, no, I’ll go with you. I’m from Snowdin, I can guide you through those trees. They’re dangerous.”

 

The girl quickly glances around. The trees aren’t even in the way, there’s a clear path along, and she can see a bridge and a giant gate far away without problems. She doesn’t need a guide, as the path is obvious, but if he really wants to pull that to go along…

 

“Yes, of course. Thanks for offering help. Can we go?” she tries again, turning and walking a bit. Just to be sure, she glances behind of her and see that, yes, Papyrus hasn’t moved a single step.

 

“Aren’t you going to come along…?” Chara’s never been the most patient person, but the awkwardness of the situation causes her to stay and wait. Something is off. Is this all because of fear?

 

“But isn't this spot here totally comfortable?” The skeleton answers in a playful tone, but Chara is having none of that. He’s trying to hold her in one place and prevent her from going to Snowdin, that much she already guessed, except he's obviously terrible at it.

 

“Yes, it seems like you're comfortable there. I will keep going and you can meet me later and tell me how fun it was to spend the whole day at the same spot. Bye.”

 

She turns and starts walking for good, not stopping that time when he calls out to her. It's just when Chara is close to the bridge, inspecting the failure of a gate that's there that she hears boots(?) Stomping on the ground, getting closer. No need to turn to know it's Papyrus.

 

“H-human! You’re fast!” Papyrus doesn't seem as fake calm as he was minutes ago, he seems nervous and sweating. Also, she registers a kind of panicked expression as soon as she looks at him.

 

“Yes, it's one of the side effects of actually walking instead of staying still in a place: you actually move.” The sarcasm in her voice is obvious. Even so, Papyrus looks confused before shrugging it off. He doesn't say anything, and the same situation from before happens again: both looking at each other in a very awkward setting.

 

“Ok, time to keep moving.” Chara announces again. This time she won't stop walking for him.

 

“Wait!” Papyrus calls, but she just shrugs and keeps going, like planned.

 

Papyrus then runs, passing next to her and stopping in front of her, his hands shaking when he positions both in front of her to make her stop.

 

“Now what?” Chara rolls her eyes, tired of that skeleton. What's wrong with her moving?

 

“I - I… I’m sorry, I wanted to talk to you about something but I didn't want to annoy you, so I avoided the subject.”

 

'You’re already annoying me enough without talking about it, so you might as well just say what you want…’ Chara thinks. She can't say it out loud, but oh well. “Don't worry, it won't annoy me. Go on, what do you want to talk about?”

 

“You see, I have a brother, and he’s, ahn, a huge fan of humans!”

 

“A fan of humans…?”

 

“Yes! He loves humans! In fact, he loves you guys so much that he founded a fanclub for you people!”

 

Now that's... something. There's someone underground that's such a huge fan of her kind, to the point they founded a fanclub.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yes? You think I’m lying?”

 

“I don't know, your tone of voice doesn't inspire me with confidence.” Chara arches a brow, giving a step in his direction. Like the previous times, he backsteps. “See? That body language is also not helping your case.” More steps on his direction, equalling more backsteps from him.

 

“W-what are you doing?” He’s not trying to hide his nervousness now, he’s even sweating.

 

“And what about that stuttering? Man, whatever you're trying to do here, you're failing horribly.” Chara isn't trying to be mean, but she needs to understand what's happening. With each step of hers, he backsteps more and more, until he gets blocked by a tree behind him. His expression is of panic when he notices he can't escape.

 

Chara lets a malicious grin run over her face. She quickly steps forward, getting close. The plan is to… well, actually she doesn't have a plan. So far it's just fun to watch his reactions, so yeah, maybe she is being a bit mean there, but what can she do? This is funn---

 

“Hey! What do you _think_ you're doing, human?!”

 

That voice, steady, strong and imposing, it startles Chara for a second. She turns around to see another skeleton, almost the opposite of the first one.

 

This one was shorter, but wider in stature, clad in a dark shiny armor - it was obviously taken good care of, but, still, it's surface was littered in many, many little scratches and dents here and there. The long red cape that was hanging from his pauldrons probably has seen better days, too. And his face- his face held way too many marks: one claw-shaped scar running over his right eyesocket, another - slashing across his left cheek. The deepest one was a crack, tracing from the left corner of his mouth to the socket on the same side.

Chara knew nothing about him, but she felt the difference in the atmosphere between him and the previous guy already — this skeleton certainly meant business.

“I'm just messing with him, no need to panic.” Chara chuckles, but the other skeleton doesn't seem amused. He narrow his eyes, his pointy teeth showing in a menacing way. He’s not happy.

 

“B-brother…” Papyrus mutters, and just then Chara understands what's happening.

 

Instead of panicking too or apologizing, she laughs. The fact that her laugh looks more like a crackle doesn't make her seem as innocent as she expected.

 

“That's your brother? The one who's a human fan?” She looks at Papyrus and back to his brother. “It's fiiiine, just come closer and I will give you an autograph!” Chara motions to the other skeleton. What's there to fear anyway?

 

“Human, I’m warning you!” His voice can sound really menacing. He’s nothing like his brother, not stuttering or trembling. That guy has confidence. “Touch my brother and I will serve you in pieces to the queen!”

 

Is that a threat? It sounds like one. She should let him know she’s not dangerous, that she won’t hurt his brother in any way, that she just wants to keep going down the path...

 

...but that threat sounded too much like a challenge for her to turn it down. Is that the result of spending so long around Asgore?

 

Chara stretches her index finger, touching Papyrus’ forehead. The tall skeleton trembles so much she’s sure he’s going to pass out. The girl turns to the brother, grinning.

 

“You’ll have to catch me first.”


	3. Blizzard

To say that Sans was mad would be an understatement. He was furious. He got there to find a human threatening his little brother, who was shaking from head to toe. Upon ordering the human to leave Papyrus alone, he was prompted answered with the little devil actually touching Paps for real, mocking him.

 

‘You’ll have to catch me first.’ Was the human’s answer. Of course that was followed by a storm of bones coming from everywhere, red bones out of the ground, falling from up, being shoot by the trees… a mess.

 

“Is this the best you can do?” the human asked while skillfully dodging. And how the hell are they even doing that? It’s true that Sans was negligent with his studies about humans, that he always said to himself 'tomorrow, I will read those books from Undyne’, and that this day never arrived, but he was also pretty sure that your average human can't do a backflip like this one did to avoid one particular bone that was going for their head.

 

The human was fast. Very much so, even. Sans had a hard time keeping on with their (‘hers’? He was almost positive that this one was female) movements, and that was gradually pissing him off. He tried to cover up his frustration with grunts and growls for he really didn’t want to feed his opponent’s already big ego. He failed miserably at it, though.

 

“Can you just stop jumping around like a hysterical Froggit for a moment?!” he shouted angrily. “I’m even trying to be nice!”

 

“Wow, you are? How so?” came out her response, voice laced with sarcasm.

 

Oh, how he hated this tone of hers-- wait. Stop right there. Hate is a strong feeling, and he couldn't afford having any of those towards his enemy. He really needed to cool down, get himself together, wrap up this fight quickly, and harvest her soul for the queen. For all monsters. She was just a part of his job, after all. An annoying part of his job, that is.

 

“Sorry, guess all these attacks you keep throwing at me like a madman kinda prevent me from seeing anything in you other than your blazing temper. And here I was going to give you my autograph!”

 

Okay, screw professionalism, he HATED her with passion now.

 

His magic responded to his flaming emotions, taking a form of a few dozen sharpened bones at his side. He furiously send his attacks at her, but none seem to even graze her frame.

 

He was growing livid with irritation at this point.

 

Magic ran through his body wildly as he summoned bones in a row after row, again and again. Sans was feeling a little tired already, yet the human has barely broken a sweat.

 

‘I need to stop acting like a child’ he reasoned with himself. ‘If things go on like this, everything might end badly for me… and Paps, even’

 

He looked over at his brother for a moment. Sans let out a little sigh of relief at the sigh, because here he was: standing rather far away from the fight near one of the more thick trees, like he was instructed by Sans before on one of their “planning sessions” in the past. He was out of range for both his and the human’s attacks. Good, it means he can finish this fast without putting Papyrus at risk of getting harmed by his magic.

 

“As I said, I was trying to be nice by giving you a quick and almost painless death. But it seems to me like you didn’t appreciate it.” he said, raising a hand in front of himself. Everything will be over soon.

 

The human landed a few meters away from him after dodging another mass of bones directed at her. She was standing there, trying to catch her breath, yet still determined as ever to provoke him even further. 

 

“Oh wow, whatever has given me away?” she faked surprise, a teasing smile on her lips. How does one even live with a face so punchable? “Still, you don’t really seem like the type to--”   
  
Her soul is blue now.

 

Sans whipped his arm at the side, aiming it so that her back will smash against the tree that has quite a number of sharp bones left embedded in it’s trunk from his previous attacks.

 

His knowledge of human anatomy might be pretty basic, but even he knew that more or less no one will survive having this many holes teared in their body. It’s over.

 

He was about to tear his eyes away from her as to not see the brutal scene that is about to take place, yet decided against it. Sans is a Royal Guard, after all. The people of his status have no right to show weakness like this.

 

And then, suddenly---   
  
\--she twisted her body, flipping herself backwards so that her feet faced the tree, and promptly landed her legs on the parts that had no shards in them.

 

“Wh-?”

 

She looked at him, and there wasn’t even that much of a surprise present on her face. If anything, it seemed like she was… excited? Like she had been anticipating this all along.   
  


“So this is how high-level blue magic feels, huh? You must be a natural then. Impressive.”

 

W h a t .

 

“What are you-? How even-?” he tripped over words as hundreds of little thoughts rushed through his head.   
  
How does she know about blue magic? And how she knows how to deal with it even? He’s ‘a natural’? Where did she-  _ How- _   
  
How does she get on his nerves so easily?

 

Before he was unsure of whether or not she was actually dangerous, but now he’s almost made up his mind - she more likely than not is a threat. A potential one, but still. This human knows too much for his comfort.

 

“No, I mean it. That’s really something! Now, can we stop this nonsense and sit down to have a talk like mature people do? I’ve got sooo many things I’d like to ask you now.”

 

Is she stupid? No, that can’t be it, she’s already demonstrated her ability to think quickly and efficiently. Just… is she  _ stupid _ !?

 

“Of course, sure!” he sneered. Ugh, sarcasm. The lowest form of humor. Sans knows he’s better than his, plus Paps always gets confused by it so he tries to avoid the usage of it twice as hard, yet here he is: a grown man having a pathetic outburst like some pissy kid. “I’ll  _ gladly _ have a tea party with the mortal enemy of my entire species for the sake of answering said enemy’s questions about my main power source! Can’t see anything wrong with that!”

 

“See! You can be nice when you try!” she snickered at him.  _ At him _ .

 

“Why, yes, I sure can. And I bet you’d look  _ really _ nice as well with a broken spine.”

 

He’s increased the pull of his magic at her soul and whipped out his arm again, throwing her body up in the air and instantly tossing it towards the ground.

 

She’s landed on her feet once more, her whole self radiating confidence. But this time her little victory didn’t last as long for she had to jump away hurriedly from the bones that slashed at her from the ground.

 

_ ‘Not so cocky now, huh?’ _

 

“Getting a little out of breath, are we?” he couldn’t help himself - his speech was practically dripping smugness.

 

“Well, what can I say...” came out her answer as she was trying to steady herself. “Being a literal bag of flesh and bones has it’s disadvantages.”

 

He was getting really tired now, and was almost ready to just lash out his blasters at her-- No, wait, he couldn't. The place they are fighting at is too crowded with trees. He’d need to lure her out into a more open area for that.

 

Sans cursed quietly and amped up his attacks once more. And to think that a mere human was making him so worked up. Pathetic.

 

The girl now had to maneuver around bones from all directions: jump when they come from the ground, skip and slide on snow when they rush at her from the top, crouch and roll over when he shoots at her from the side.

 

How much stamina must this human have?

 

“Say, mr. Skeleton, aren’t you tired?” she panted. “Wouldn’t it be oh so great to just end this fight, go out somewhere where it’s actually warm, and have a nice little chat?”

 

“It would be a lot better if you just stayed still for a second!”

 

She is testing his limits for too long now.

 

“Aw, but that’d just be boring, don’t you agree, partner?”

 

Boring  _ his ass _ . And he doesn’t even have one.

 

“Plus, I’m pretty sure that you won’t actually appreciate it if I did stay still.” she squinted her eyes a little.

 

What does she mean? Of course he would “appreciate it”, he’d be the happiest monster alive for the whole 15 seconds until she finally dies, thank you very much.

 

“And what is that supposed to mean?” he snarled at her, mouth pulling down in a grimace.

 

They both went silent for a little while, her eyes never leaving his frame, gaze calculating yet… unseeing. She was looking through him, and with that stare of hers he felt tingles running down his back.

 

He hated it.

 

“...you don’t seem like the type of person that would enjoy doing such a job.”

 

...huh?

 

“I mean, you’re clearly holding back on me here. I’m not exactly sure  _ why _ though.”

 

Curses. Many, many curses ran through his head as he doubled,  _ tripled _ the number of attacks heading her way. Why did she have to be so perceptive? Or was he just that easy to read?

 

“You must be gravely mistaken. I am a member of the Royal Guard, I’ve dedicated my entire life to hunting humans, this is my purpose! This is what every monster that ever lived in this cage of a home has wanted, does want, and will want to see from me!”

 

Her face scrunched up in some indescribable emotion. She didn’t say a word after that, probably trying to process everything he’s foolishly said to her in the heat of a moment.

 

Pathetic, pathetic,  _ pathetic _ .

 

“But what do you want?”

 

The childish glee that was so strongly present in her at the start of their fight was long gone, as something much more mature, wise, yet  _ judging _ has taken it’s place on her face, in the fixed look of her eyes, in the tone of her voice that sounded much more haunting, menacing almost, than moments ago.

 

“I want... what every other monster wants. Freedom. And you are the key to it.”

 

He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

 

“You’ve had to give this little speech a number of times already, haven’t you? It almost sounds like a wicked prayer. But do you believe a single word that just came out of your mouth?”

 

He did! Of course he did!... didn’t he?

 

“For a man of such honour-bound title you sure are full of lies, knight.”

 

He felt more uncomfortable than angry now. The tingling has traveled from his back down to his spine, he could almost feel a physical itch, yet could not locate it. It’s like something was scratching at his very soul.

 

He didn’t reply to her. No snarky remark, no angry yell, no sneer nor bite, as he struggled to control his raging thoughts. Outside, he was as stoic as ever, staring down his opponent with intimidating glare… or so he wanted to believe.

 

Inside, he was a mess- even more so than usual.

 

And it was all  _ her fault _ .

 

“Now, let me give you a little advice.” came from her, as she crouched down and plugged on of his attacks out of snow. Is she finally going to battle him properly?

 

“If you wish to capture me so badly, you’ll have to abandon your tunnel vision.”

 

She took a battle stance, her muscles tense as she suddenly sprinted right towards him.

 

Front attack, huh? She isn’t really that smart, apparently. Maybe Sans was just worried over nothing.

 

“Think quicker.” she tossed the bone at him, but ended up aiming it too high so it didn’t even graze him. Ha! Not only is she stupid, she’s also blind-

 

The bone smacked against the tree that Sans was standing under. He couldn’t react fast enough as piles after piles of snow fell onto him hence effectively burying him underneath all that mass.

 

Muffled curses rang through the - apparently, former - battlefield.

 

“I warned you. Now, I will take my leave, if you don’t mind. See you around,  _ Sans _ .”

 

The only sound he heard after that was crumbling of snow under her feet as she hurriedly made her escape.


End file.
